16 replies to this topic

[olivia]

http://www.healthcar...utism-vaccines/

  

 

What do you think?

[supermom]

Pharmaceutical propaganda poster. Nice.

[olivia]

Pharmaceutical propaganda poster. Nice.

 

I don't believe there is any reference to any pharmaceutical company.  The information graphic. was put together by a healthcare management guide group which in no way negates the statistics cited.

 

Sources:

• http://www.bmj.com/c...t/342/bmj.c7452
• http://www.cdc.gov/p...aks/trends.html
• http://www.cdc.gov/v...kbook/pert.html
• https://www.dosometh...-about-vaccines
• http://www.npr.org/b...ism_mmr_au.html
• http://www.npr.org/b...ism_mmr_au.html
• http://skepticalrapt...arket-Value.pdf
• http://www.theverge....ngerous-new-fad
• http://www.nbcnews.c...ts-cause-autism
• http://upworthy.com/...eir-controversy
• http://www.slate.com...f_vaccines.html
• http://www.slate.com...unizations.html
• http://www.slate.com...accinate_their_

[supermom]

right. So who bankrolls the district of universities nursing and doctoral scholarship programs?

[aztransplant]

Personally, I am not interested enough to dig through all the research, but you asked what [I] think of this link/poster. Although it is very eye catching, I am not impressed. I do not see the actual studies cited, nor who funded them. Nor do I see how this "healthcare management guide group" came to its conclusions (besides a bunch of sweeping statements without citations). Nowhere could I find any details on the group itself, with whom it is affiliated, etc.

This kind of stuff, I ignore. And, when I AM interested in the topic I do my homework, read the research, etc. I don't believe it just 'cause the graphics are nifty.

[Carl G]

I'm always amazed that people want to make the association between vaccinations and shots when there is no evidence to prove it.  But then there are 9/11 truthers, so I guess I shouldn't be shouldn't be surprised by anything.

 

My personal guess on why autism is increasing is because of increased pesticide use and pollution.

[supermom]

My point is that the poster is made by a university which gets a lot of grants from pharma companies. 

I agree there may be some merit to the link between autism and pesticide use- according to the latest news break which irresponsibly claims farmers from yolo county combined with pattern wind shifts- MAY have an impact on autism rates. At this point- more studies will need to be done. Ofourse it makes the pharma companies over the moon that the limelight may be shifting. 

There is still, ofcourse, people who think that the mother's dna is linked to weakness in fighting off ability to keep harmful content from breaking through uterus wall, smog inhalation, and a few other ideas swirling around out there.

[WolfMom]

http://www.healthcar...utism-vaccines/

  

 

What do you think?

 

What is your stance Olivia?

[Deb aka Resume Lady]

From my experience, a lot of people (including those who report the news) don't understand the difference between connection/link and causation. I see it all the time. A badly designed study makes big news, people don't understand what constitutes valid research methodology, reporters sometimes mistakenly use the term cause, the public misinterprets link/connection as cause, and it's hard to un-ring that bell.

 

Some diseases are on the rise again, including measles, mumps, and whooping cough. These are preventable diseases -- but only if vaccinations are used.

[Steve Heard]

My sister is an expert in the field, with a Master's Degree in Special Education. She's done everything from special ed teacher to advocate to program manager for the state.

 

We've often discussed whether there is really an increase in autism or an increase in diagnoses. It seems that every human behavior or personality type has a syndrome associated with it. 

 

Her husband is an electrician. He loves to be in his garage tinkering with just about anything electrical or mechanical. He's a good guy, and loves to talk sports or Tower of Power (one of our favorite bands) but not terribly interested in going out socializing. 

 

My brother is similar; smart, operates an enormous and complicated printing press. He talks about the things he's interested in, but would rather be home than out in the world.

 

A family friend owns a power support business. He wrote a book about stereo equipment that was so detailed it was overwhelming, boring and almost unreadable. He is very smart, loves to discuss the stuff he is interested in (sound reproduction and martial arts), but doesn't like the social scene. 

 

All three are unlikely to return phone calls in a timely manner (if at all), or show up at family functions. All three can be direct and abrupt and appear insensitive. 

 

My sister diagnosed them as having Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism.

 

The people who used to be called loners, nerds or socially awkward are now being diagnosed as having a form of autism. Many of them go into science, math, physics and engineering. They are reproducing, too. 

 

She says that every kid she's ever assessed has a parent with behaviors identified as some form of autism.

 

She says that it's rarely the children of people who are involved in jobs requiring more social skills, such as sales, counseling, law, or human resources who are diagnosed. 

 

Here's some info from an article on the subject:

 

 

From Congress to popular media, speculation is increasing that more children have autism than ever before. Call it what
you’d like: autism, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or Asperger syndrome
(AS). While there are clinical distinctions between these terms, they all mean the same thing to parents: “something is
wrong with my child.” And parents want to know why.

 

But is it true? Are there really more kids with autism today than in generations past? Or do other factors give this
impression? Are we just better at diagnosing children with autism? Are professionals more willing to make this
diagnosis? Are more children referred and reported simply because more services are available? “More” children have
autism relative to what?

 

....people are diagnosed in very different ways, based on different clinical procedures, and using different diagnostic tools. There is presently no biological marker, no distinctive or particular biological signature, that serves as a benchmark for autism diagnosis.

 

People are diagnosed at different ages and possibly by different criteria. Numbers can be skewed because children living in some areas are more likely to be seen by specialists than are others, and children with some health plans are more likely to have coverage for specialists than others. Specialists are more likely to practice in urban areas, but poor children, who are more common in urban areas, are less likely than are more affluent children to be seen for specialist diagnosis and treatment.

 

Also noteworthy is that ASD is not a group of conditions that is automatically included in public health databases. This
means children with ASD often become recognized in research studies only because the child enrolls in some sort of
service that does contribute to databases, or where there is other, ongoing research.

 

Heightened awareness of ASD and better practitioner skills among physicians and psychologists mean that the child who
might have been diagnosed with some form of learning disability or developmental delay in the past is now more likely
to be diagnosed with ASD.

Taken individually or together, these factors do not make it more likely that children will be incorrectly diagnosed with
ASD, thereby inflating the reported number of children.

However, there are at least two factors that may be inflating the reported numbers of children with ASD. The first is the
advent of the Asperger Syndrome (AS) diagnosis. Diagnostic criteria for AS require less severe problems in living and
learning than those for other ASDs. As a result, there may be some people with the very mildest apparent forms of AS
who are now diagnosed but would not have been in the past, and there may be some individuals diagnosed when it is not
warranted. AS diagnoses add considerably to the estimated prevalence of ASD. A good number of the AS diagnoses
are made of adults, in the absence of detailed, solid information about the person’s early childhood development.

Questions can be raised about whether this represents sound diagnostic practice.

 

The second factor, which may be inflating ASD prevalence, is practitioners’ desire to help children get needed services.
After all, the purpose of diagnosis is to identify problems in specific terms that lead to well-defined, promising
treatment. As scientifically based treatments for ASD are recognized, ASD diagnosis may be key to getting a child
more intensive early services. These services hold the promise of significant therapeutic benefit, if the child has
problems similar to those common in an ASD. This means that some children will be diagnosed with an ASD even
though they have more mild or related delays in development, or if they have behavioral problems often found in ASD.
Although this practice raises some grave questions, pediatricians or psychologists may view it as a means of advocating
for a child. Regardless of well-meaning intentions, this form of advocacy could inflate the rate at which ASDs are
identified and reported.

 

As noted before, epidemiological studies from other nations suggest it is certainly possible that the prevalence of autism
has been underestimated in the past, and that PDD and AS have not been broadly and representatively studied. An
apparent increase may simply be the result of better knowledge of ASDs. From the standpoint of advocacy, there are
some incentives for suggesting that the prevalence of autism is increasing. However, it is very difficult to support this
assertion with scientific, epidemiological evidence.
 

http://www.asatonlin...utism/ontherise

[EAH]

Excellent, well thought out reply, Steve.

[supermom]

Did you see the news today? Not so sure disease is on the rise again- so much as we are importing it. Through illegal aliens entering the system and not being tested or required to pass tests first. And it isnt just the biggies like TB and Flu. They said there is a big problem on the southern border right now with scabies. ewww!

[olivia]

Did you see the news today? Not so sure disease is on the rise again- so much as we are importing it. Through illegal aliens entering the system and not being tested or required to pass tests first. And it isnt just the biggies like TB and Flu. They said there is a big problem on the southern border right now with scabies. ewww!

And this relates to autism, how?

[aztransplant]

And this relates to autism, how?

 

 

I believe supermom is relating this to VACCINATIONS, olivia.

[supermom]

well actually, it has a lot to do with the fear of vaccinations, the lack of availability for medical care within our communities, combined with setting loose 40k people into the us in the last two months with very serious health conditions that has not been a problem in most parts of the US for 50 years or more. Where there is comfort there is a sense of rational non-urgency in matters, I think. Yes, I do think the two topics are fair to discuss together.